Why does America have so much influence globally? What is the nature of this influence? And what are the consequences of this influence? What are the nature and consequences of the influence of the rest of the world on America? Why given America's global influence, and globalisation in general, does America remain such an insular society? This unit takes an interdisciplinary approach to these questions with a focus primarily on the United States in the 21st century.

In this unit we explore major American social issues by comparing them with similar issues in Australia. What makes America different? How do personal rights, from gun rights to LGBTI rights, work differently in the two countries? What differences and similarities exist on issues like race and mass incarceration? How much do we either exaggerate or downplay political differences between the United States and ourselves?

This unit explores the cultural history of and intersections between sexuality, race and rock music in the United States from Elvis to Beyonce. Influenced by black and working-class cultures, and with sexuality embedded in its form and practice, rock music challenged and transformed existing norms of family, sex and gender. Through subjects including Black women, glam rock, and disco, we will learn that rock music, far from frivolous, provided a realm for rebellion, freedom, community and profit.

This unit introduces students to US political institutions and political culture. The unit will examine the electoral system and recent presidential elections as well as presidencies from 1960 onwards. It will explore US public policies in the area of race, welfare, and criminal justice and analyse how policy ideas and proposals come into law. It will also introduce the dominant ideologies in US politics. By the end of the unit students will have a comprehensive understanding of American Domestic politics.

This unit introduces students to the contradictory richness of 'Americanness' from an interdisciplinary standpoint and prepares them for the Major in American Studies. It is divided into different modules, each addressing a core national myth. We will approach each module from a variety of angles: historiographical, literary and visual, opening lines of interrelation between historical and imaginary forms in the construction and ongoing redefinition of the United States.

This unit introduces students to the complex richness of 'Americanness' and prepares them for the Major in American Studies. Divided into historically grounded modules (Race; Religion; Gender; Politics; Region), the unit will approach each from a variety of angles: the historiographical, the literary, the cultural, the political, the cinematic. It will open lines of interrelation between historical and imaginary forms in the construction and ongoing redefinition of the United States.

From Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle, this unit charts comedy's discussions of race, class, gender, and sexuality, and of party and identity politics in the form of parody and satire. Influenced by ethnic, minority, and working-class cultures, comedy challenged and transformed existing norms of American family and institutions, and American identity, sex, and gender. Through forms such as literature, television, stand-up, cinema, and new media, students will learn that comedy provided a space for resistance, profit, and community.

This unit of study introduces students to the key global transformations of the contemporary era, focusing on the role of the United States amid the challenges posed by: globalisation, free trade, the rise of Islamic extremism, nuclear proliferation, and the emergence of China and India as world powers. The unit is designed to give students the ability to look behind today's news headlines to understand the underlying forces driving them, particularly the behaviour and views of key policy makers and opinion leaders.

This unit introduces students to US political institutions and political culture. The unit will examine the electoral system and recent presidential elections as well as presidencies from 1960 onwards. It will explore US public policies in the area of race, welfare, and criminal justice and analyse how policy ideas and proposals come into law. It will also introduce the dominant ideologies in US politics. By the end of the unit students will have a comprehensive understanding of American Domestic politics.

The United States is regarded by many as an exceptional nation, a haven from the Â¿Old WorldÂ¿ constituted by ideals of liberty and democracy. Others see America as an oppressive state with a militaristic foreign policy. This unit explores the origins and development of negative and positive opinions of America around the world, and from within. It undertakes a critical analysis of American politics and foreign relations, taking the perspectives of individuals and publics. We consider a range of concrete historical and contemporary responses to the U.S., its politics, foreign policies and culture, drawing widely on historical, cultural and policy sources.

This unit explores the cultural history of and intersections between sexuality, race and rock music in the United States from Elvis to Beyonce. Influenced by black and working-class cultures, and with sexuality embedded in its form and practice, rock music challenged and transformed existing norms of family, sex and gender. Through subjects including bwomen of colour, glam rock, disco and hip hop, students will learn that rock music provided a realm for rebellion, freedom, community and profit and has transformed the United States..

Note: US citizens cannot be placed in an US Consulate General internship.

This unit will be taken by students accepted into the United States Studies Centre's internship program. Students will have the opportunity to apply their knowledge to real-world problems through a unique internship placement in an American-based or affiliated business, government or non-government organisation located in Australia or the US. The unit provides academic support for students to discuss and refine research approaches and questions about issues arising from the placement. Assessment includes a reflective journal and research essay, based on the internship experience.

This unit explores the relationship between cinema and sexuality in classic films through detailed, historicised readings. Questions to be investigated include the erotics of cinematic genre and form; the sexual politics of representation and spectatorship; stardom, scandal and cult appreciation; cinema and sexuality as technologies of modernity; cinema, sexuality and pedagogy.

In this unit, we study a variety of American literary and visual texts to consider what it means to read "nationally". We first examine the rise of literary nationalism to look then at the ways in which exigencies of empire, race and ethnicity, and gender and sexuality, for example, have exerted pressure on the fantasy of a cohesive national culture. We will also consider the transnational turn of recent decades to understand the nation's function in a global context.

A problem-focused introduction at the senior-intermediate level to quantitative methods of analysis in political science. The semester begins with practical examples such as experiments and political predictions, focusing on what these methods are good for (and not good for). Statistical theory is introduced, along with hands-on work with real-world data.

From fashion, food, and music, to speech patterns and protest methods, African-American culture has had a profound effect both on America and the wider world. In this unit, we survey race relations after the end of slavery, focusing on the emergence of black communities across the North and South; the spread of black music, literature, and film; the history of the civil rights and black power movements, and the role of race in the contemporary America.

The Civil War had momentous consequences for America - realigning the nation's political culture, ending slavery and forever transforming millions of lives. This unit analyses the social, cultural and political history of the Civil War and Reconstruction. We begin by looking at combat experience, civilian mobilization and state formation, the war's effects on gender and race relations and the causes for Reconstruction's failure, and we end by focusing on how and why this war continues to resonate in American culture.

This capstone unit will discuss key texts from Politics, History, English, Film Studies, and Music to critically examine the ways the United States has been idealised as exceptional - as democracy, utopia, and empire. Students will study works ranging from de Tocqueville's Democracy in America to the film Birth of a Nation with the aim of developing a critical appreciation of both classic and contemporary debates about American society. The unit will conclude with a discussion of the ways American Studies as a field deals with these long standing debates in innovative and challenging ways.

This unit will integrate career development goals with academic learning. The immersive USA study tour will expose students to company visits, case studies, industry insights, networking with practicing industry experts and cultural experiences relating to Government and Public Policy (Washington DC) and Management Consulting and Investment Banking (New York). This work-integrated learning exposure will assist students to develop a more informed understanding of whether their chosen concentration suits their personality, interest and overall career plan. This intensive course will provide students an opportunity to integrate career development goals with academic learning. The immersive experience gained through the study tour will expose students to company visits, case studies, industry insights, networking with practicing industry experts and cultural experiences. This work-integrated learning exposure will assist students to develop a more informed understanding of whether their chosen concentration suits their personality, interest and overall career plan.

Students have the opportunity to apply their knowledge to real-world problems through an internship in an American-based or affiliated business, government, or non-government organisation located in Australia or the US. Assessment includes a research project with proposal, essay and presentation tied to the internship experience.

This unit explores political beliefs and behaviour in the United States. Using survey studies, we explore what Americans know and believe about politics, how their attitudes are formed, and how and why they vote. We look at voting patterns in recent elections and examine how these have been affected by attitudes towards race and party identification.

This unit surveys the long history of social movements and protest in the U. S. . Beginning with 19th Century movements against slavery, the course charts the way everyday Americans came together to make demands on the state, the economy, and American culture. From abolitionism, students move onto close study of the history of American feminism, Civil Rights, agrarian revolt, the labor movement, antiwar politics, gay liberation, Chicano rights, and grassroots conservatism with an eye toward commonalities and divergences in protest strategy and a close attention to the historical contexts in which various movements arose and their long-term effects on American society. The unit will utilize the insights of the disciplines of history, sociology, political science, anthropology, communication studies, and philosophy in order to build on inter- and multi-disciplinary studies of social movement in the U. S. -one of the main subjects of deep fascination that has engaged the multitude of the humanistic social sciences and encouraged debate between them as well as interdisciplinary cross-fertilization.

This unit provides an overview of the American political system and the formulation of foreign policy. The unit considers how foreign policy is made through the interaction of executive, legislative and judicial branches and with other elements of civil society, with a special emphasis on the post-Cold War period. It seeks to answer: (a) what is the influence of domestic politics on US foreign policy; and (b) how does the US system cope with the apparent contradictions between its ideals and the imperatives of global power?

This unit is designed for third year students to undertake a project that allows them to work with one of the University's industry and community partners. Students will work in teams on a real-world problem provided by the partner. This experience will allow students to apply their academic skills and disciplinary knowledge to a real-world issue in an authentic and meaningful way.

Interdisciplinarity is a key skill in fostering agility in life and work. This unit provides learning experiences that build students' skills, knowledge and understanding of the application of their disciplinary background to interdisciplinary contexts. In this unit, students will work in teams and develop interdisciplinarity skills through problem-based learning projects responding to 'real world problems'.

Honours

Honours in American Studies requires 48 credit points from this table including:

A cornerstone myth of American Exceptionalism is that the US is a classless society, but the consumption of popular culture is a classed phenomenon. This unit interrogates the principles of American studies by analyzing US pop culture. Part intellectual history of taste, part pop bonanza, it combines the trashiest cultural exploits (B movies, pulp novels, gossip sites) with the most brilliant meditations on cultural value, exploring why people like what they like, and what it says about them.

We will trace the intellectual evolution of American Studies since WWII. Using classic texts we examine key themes (race, gender, sexuality) and concepts (culture, empire, power) that have shaped American Studies, consider major methodological and theoretical frameworks and examine recent developments.

Honours thesis units of study

In this unit students begin a substantial, independent research project in American Studies. Regular meetings with a supervisor approved by the United States Studies Centre Honours Coordinator will guide their progress. Students will develop a plan for researching and writing the thesis, submit an ethics application if appropriate, familiarise yourself with disciplinary conventions and standards, engage with relevant literature, theories and methodologies, and submit drafts at agreed times.

In this unit students complete and submit their substantial, independent research project in American Studies. Regular meetings with a supervisor approved by the United States Studies Centre Honours Coordinator will guide your progress. Students will continue to submit drafts at agreed times, and develop their expertise in relevant research methods and analytical skills as well as in the subject matter of their specialist topic.